As part of our transition arrangements we are compiling a Top Ten list of information for parents/carers for our Primary 1 children starting in August. This list will be compiled by parents/carers for parent/carers. Please can you comment below of some suggestions of things you found useful/ wish you knew prior to your child(ren) starting school.
You can also send you suggestions to the school office by Wednesday 16th March 2016.
Many thanks in advance.
Over the last 5 weeks P7 have been working with Dr Cherry, a CDT teacher from West Calder high school. On the first week he taught us how to draw straight lines without using a ruler, on the second week we learned how to draw geometric shapes. On the third and final week of Dr Cherry coming to our class we drew 3D cubes also we did some shading with help from a colour scale. On the fourth week we went up to the high school, when we first arrived we had to pick a template of a spatula either a cat or fish, we had aprons waiting for us on our desks so the first thing we did is put them on. Once we had put our aprons on Dr Cherry went through some safety procedures. Once we had gone through safety procedures Dr Cherry then showed us how to draw a line about half a centimetre far from the template then we drew an x on every part which would be the wood that we were going to cut off. We used a coping saw to cut the excess wood off. Today when we went to W.C.H.S Dr Cherry had cleaned up our spatula then we had to sand it down to make it soft using 2 different types of sandpaper. We were also very lucky to see some of the big machines in action. Then Dr Cherry put olive oil on our hands and we had to rub it on our spatula to make sure none of the wood came off in our food. At first it was very sticky and not very nice on our hands. When we washed the oil off the spatula and off our hands they were very soft. He then showed us some models that he was working on and trust us they were amazing.
We all enjoyed this experience very much and cant wait to go to High School, we all hope that you enjoyed reading about or transition up to the high school.
written by Olivia, Laura and Caitlin. 
This week P7 joined in with our cluster primary schools for our second Maths transition Glow Meet with West Calder High School. The context for learning was percentages, we were able to demonstrate our prior knowledge of percentages and learn some new strategies too! Thank you WCHS.
Dear Parents and Carers,
You are warmly invited to attend West Calder High School’s P7-S3 Curriculum Information Evening on Wednesday 20 January, from 6:30 pm. The evening will begin with presentations, following which there will be the chance to browse stands, talk to staff and pupils, and go online. This is a great chance to learn more about the subjects, skills and experiences that make up our broad general education, and the way we help pupils keep track of their skills development and achievements. We are delighted that P7 pupils in our cluster schools have the chance to start using didbook for their profiles this year, and will provide a brief introduction to didbook for parents and carers. We will also outline the timelines for specialisation of subjects in S2 and S3. Finally, we are very pleased to announce that a number of other partner agencies who support parents as well as pupils will be present on the evening with information stands, including:
• Sleep Scotland
• Healthy Reading Scheme
• Access to Employment (getting back into work)
• the Advice Shop
• Adult learning
• West Lothian College
• Community Learning and Development
We look forward to welcoming you to what we are sure will be a very worthwhile event.
Yours faithfully,
Fiona H Rowland Head Teacher
P7 group 1’s have had a fantastic time attending the high school CDT department with Dr Cherry. The children were able to use sawing equipment, vices and sanding equipment to make a wooden spatula. They used olive oil to treat the wood before use. It was a great opportunity to explore the school and get a feel for the various departments and learn more about the knowledge and skills they will experience. The children listened well, followed instructions, worked hard to reach their full potential and paid attention to safety rules. They were a credit to themselves and the school. Well done P7, I was very proud of you.
P7 Art-Ms Thompson
Ms Thompson comes to Mid Calder Primary from West Calder High School every Monday and Thursday to work with all the Primary 7’s. This is part of our transition to High School and to make it easier to experience what it might be like when we go up to High School next August.
In P7, we have been learning how to draw Dazzle Camouflaged Spitfires. The Dazzle technique was used in World War 1 and 2. They put it on ships to confuse the enemy of what speed the ship was going, what side was the front and which was the back and what side the ship was from. (The Germans or the Britains)
L.I: We are learning to draw spitfires and camouflage them using the Dazzle technique.
S.C: We will be able to successfully complete our Dazzle Camouflage Spitfires and make them into models out of clay.
The skills we need to use are: concentration, listening, sketching, respect (to Ms Thompson) and a steady hand.
Firstly, Ms Thompson explained what Dazzle camouflage is, then we got all of our necessary equipment (A pencil, tracing paper and a picture of a spitfire) and we traced the picture of our chosen spitfire. Then we drew a grid on a fresh piece of paper and our tracing paper, we then transferred our tracing to the other piece of paper. We drew in all of the details and then we were on to drawing our design. We then got a piece of paper and drew our Dazzle pattern in black pen; it included a lot of different and unique pretty patterns. Next we had to block our design to ensure we could camouflage it correctly. Finally we had to transfer our design on to our spitfire drawing.
We know that our next step is to start modelling the clay into the spitfire shape. The clay has ARRIVED!
“It’s really enjoyable and it is preparing me for High School” Laura Mackay
“It is good fun and it calms me down” Lachlan McGukin
“It is super fun and it’s getting me excited for High School” Olivia Jones
“It is a fun experience and gets us ready for High School” Romany Moffat
“It’s very enjoyable and making me more confident in art” Neve Cormack
“I love to make the designs on the Spitfires and now I really, really like art” Millie Thomson
“Art is fun and it gets you thinking at the same time” Caitlin Black
“It is exciting but challenging” Andrew Vince
“You can imagine what you are going to make” Callum West
This week Primary 7 group 1’s had a visit from the high school CDT teacher, Dr Cherry. He was here to help us with the transition to High School and show us some of the skills we would be learning when we get there.
We learned to draw straight lines without using a ruler, for example vertical, horizontal and diagonal. He also taught us a technique on how to draw squares, using only horizontal lines and then turning your paper to a different angle. He gave us a top tip – to use all the joints in our arm when drawing free hand straight lines. This will help us control our lines.
We all look forward to his future visits to primary school and we are especially excited about visiting his workshop at West Calder high school in 3 weeks time. We will keep on practicing our techniques until then!
“I liked drawing the lines free hand!” – Chiaro
“I liked it when he taught us the proper names for light lines and heavy lines” – Michael
“It helped us feel more comfortable and confident about moving up to high school” – Holly
“Dr Cherry made us feel comfortable about the lesson and trying new skills. He also told very funny jokes! – ‘Have you ever heard of the magic tractor? It turned in to a field!’
Today Primary 7 pupils had a Maths lesson with a difference! Last week a Maths teacher from West Calder High School came to our school to teach us the first lesson in a series of 3 about dividing and fractions, this is relevant to work we have been learning about in our Maths Groupings and consolidated some of our learning from last session. Today was the second part of the lesson which was delivered through Glow Meet. Glow Meet is a virtual learning room so we could see the teachers at the high school and also all the other P7s in our cluster primary schools. We were asked questions by the high school team and we had to answer using our whiteboards via the webcam. Our teachers were very impressed that we had remembered so much about fractions. Unfortunately due to a few technical issues we had to finish our Glow Meet early, but we are very grateful to the Maths Department at WCHS for organising this and are looking forward to the next one.
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